Out of the Blue

Today is Presidents' Day here in the U.S., where we celebrate our nation's leadership with low, low prices on mattresses. Actually, technically today is still the celebration of George Washington's birthday, as the federal holiday has never been officially changed. The idea of using the occasion to honor the legacy of all the country's previous leaders came from Richard M. Nixon, which probably qualifies as ironic, since Nixon typically ranks very high on polls ranking the worst presidents. Following that theme, and avoiding any living presidents to forestall needless political controversy, I will use my presidents' day to remember the dubious accomplishments of some consensus worst presidents: Nixon, Frankin Pierce, James Buchanan, Ulysses S. Grant, Andrew Johnson, and of course, Warren G. Harding.